More than 40 percent of the world's freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction, according to a new assessment by Conservation International.

Turtles are threatened primarily by hunting, habitat destruction, and the pet trade, making them among the most endangered groups of animals.

"Their decline is an indicator that the freshwater ecosystems that millions of people rely on for irrigation, food and water are being damaged in a manner that could have dire consequences for people and turtles alike," said Dr Peter Paul van Dijk, Director of Conservation International's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program, in a statement. "If we don't act now to protect the habitats that support these creatures and take stronger action to tackle both the international and domestic markets in these animals for pets and food we stand a very real chance that we will lose them forever."

"It's time that the international community recognized that we need a holistic approach to managing our freshwater ecosystems," added Dr. Tracy Farrell, the leader of Conservation International’s Freshwater team. "Failure to protect the source, flow and delivery of freshwater in an interconnected way, results in a loss of benefits to species and people.

"We have already lost half of our wetlands and dammed two thirds of our major rivers. Damming in one place can have dramatic consequences downstream, and if we don’t consider the whole of a system we threaten not only important populations of animals – like turtles – but also human populations that rely on these waterways for food, irrigation, drinking water and even transport."

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